


His Brothers Keeper

by DraconisFelicis (Ravenhoot)



Series: Musings of the Santos Brothers [3]
Category: Caraval Series - Stephanie Garber
Genre: Angst and Feels, Could Be Canon, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-09 13:57:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19477306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravenhoot/pseuds/DraconisFelicis
Summary: A short scene between Julian and Legend after the events ofLegendary.SPOILER WARNING: If you haven't readLegendaryorFinale,read at your own risk!





	His Brothers Keeper

“You lied to me, brother.” 

It was a statement, not a question. Julian’s voice usually always had an impish playful tone, but at the moment, it was curt and severe. 

Legend sat lazily in the chair opposite his brother, one leg draped over the armrest and his hand against his brow. The rose tattoo on the back of his hand almost appeared wilted, as if it reflected its owner’s own misery. 

“Well, lying is kind of what I do,” Legend replied listlessly, not even mustering the energy to argue. 

“Not to me,” Julian pointed out. 

The two brothers were in what had most recently been Jacks’s suite. As Elantine’s alleged lost child, “Prince Dante” had been afforded the heir’s accommodations. While Legend was lounging in his new quarters, Julian leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed and a scowl across his handsome face. 

Realizing his brother wasn’t going to acknowledge his last statement, he shifted topics to something he hoped he’d get an answer to. 

“Why do you even want to be the emperor, anyway? You never struck me as the aristocratic type.”

Legend remained silent. 

“I mean, how are you going to continue to hold Caraval on los Sueños when you’re here playing king?” 

“Maybe I’ll let you take over los Sueños and Caraval,” Legend mused. He conjured a clear crystal sphere and rolled it around the tips of his fingers. 

“What?” Julian asked, genuinely surprised. “I can’t run Caraval. That’s yours.” 

“Maybe I don’t want it to be anymore.” Legend’s voice was barely above a whisper and Julian had to strain to hear him. 

“Why?” Julian was starting to become genuinely worried about his brother. He’d seemingly gotten exactly what he wanted, yet his demeanor would suggest the exact opposite. 

Legend sighed. He knew his annoying little brother wouldn’t leave it alone until he answered. “I suppose after seeing it played by certain players, it wouldn’t be as exciting without them now.”

“You mean Scarlett and Tella?” Julian guessed, although saying Scarlett’s actual name felt wrong and too formal. To him, she would always be his Crimson. 

Legend tensed at the mention of the younger Dragna sister and it did not go unnoticed by his own younger sibling. The corner of Julian’s mouth turned upward just slightly. 

“That brings me back to my original point,” Julian said. “You lied to me.” 

“You’re going to have to be more specific,” Legend replied, sarcasm dripping from every word. 

“Tella.” Julian was truly astonished how one word could have such a powerful impact on his brother. Usually, Legend was so skilled at keeping himself shrouded and secretive if he wanted, but somehow, this girl had seized that control away from him. Julian understood though - the Dragna sisters were unlike any other women Julian had ever met. If there was one thing he understood, it was how intense it could be to be on the receiving end of a Dragna sister’s affection. 

Occasionally it scared him that he needed Scarlett so completely. His life had been his own for so very long that truly letting someone else in had not been easy. But then he’d had to ask himself exactly how much had his life really been his own? Year after year, he’d played a role for Caraval. Some years, it was the same, but often, his role changed with each game. And the games were so complex that he sometimes spent months setting up the role so he could be exactly where he needed to be at the right moment. When he thought about it, he spent more time playing a character for his brother’s charade than he did as his own true self. 

Since falling in love with Scarlett, he’d begun to rediscover himself. Though he’d played a role during the last Caraval on Valenda, he’d been acutely aware that it was a temporary, fictional role. Instead of losing himself in his character, he’d been able to act convincingly for the game and then completely turn the character off when the game was not in motion. Even when Scarlett had been upset with him and refused to speak to him, he’d never lost hope that she would come back to him, and so he had ensured that his character was only that - a character that he separated from himself. It had been the most difficult to remain in character when he’d encountered Tella. He’d had to pretend like he’d never seen her before when all he’d wanted to do was grab her by the shoulders and beg her to help him get Scarlett back.

Julian pulled himself out of his musings and observed his brother. Legend was still lounged across the chair with his leg draped over the armrest - a seemingly carefree posture except for the rigidly tense angle of his neck. 

“You know, brother, I’m mildly insulted,” Julian drawled. 

“I don’t know what you mean,” Legend said with an exasperated sigh. 

“I mean _Tel-la_ ,” Julian deliberately punctuated each syllable of her name. “Honestly, if anyone would understand, it would be me.”

“There’s nothing to understand,” Legend replied, an unmistakable edge to his tone. 

“Except the part where you lied about her,” Julian countered. He refused to back down. Not this time. 

“I didn’t,” Legend insisted. 

“But you did,” Julian practically sang. “You told me you didn’t care about her and you only wanted to get the Deck of Destiny.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t care,” Legend argued. “I simply provided an alternative answer to your question that avoided answering it.”

“So you _do_ care about her?” Julian knew he was pushing and any minute, Legend would shut the conversation down and later pretend like it never happened, as was his way. 

“Of course I do,” Legend snapped. 

Julian had been leaning with his back and one foot propped against the wall. His foot slipped in surprise and collided to the floor with an echoing thump. He blinked several times in disbelief. Had his brother really said what he thought he said?

“You-you do?” Julian stammered.

Legend rolled his eyes. He knew Julian would read too much into it, which was why he’d avoided the topic for as long as he could. He couldn’t fault his brother; not truly. Julian was ageless, not immortal, so he could love without consequence. 

And he did. He loved Scarlett down to his very soul. Legend had seen than after the first Caraval that had brought the Dragna sisters into their lives. Legend also knew that Julian loved him. It was an unconditional love that brothers should have for one another and Legend sometimes regretted being unable to love Julian the way he deserved. He was fiercely protective over his brother. He would die for him - and had one more than one occasion - but he could never say it was out of love because he’d always known he’d come back to life.

“Don’t,” Legend said tersely. 

“Don’t what?” Julian pressed. 

“Don’t read too much into it like I _know_ you’re doing.”

“But… you said-”

“I said I cared about Tella,” Legend clarified. “I didn’t say I loved her.”

Julian’s face fell. He’d dared to hope that Tella would be the one to teach his brother to love. 

“So… you don’t love her?”

“No…” Legend said quietly. “I can’t.”

Julian would have believed him if he hadn’t appeared so crestfallen when he’d said it. His brother’s coal black eyes that usually glittered with flecks of gold were hollow and empty. 

“You can’t? Or you won’t?” Julian implored. 

Legend stared at the floor and didn’t reply. Julian remained silent in case his brother was taking his time answering, but after several moments, it became apparent that Legend was not going to say anything else. 

“I don’t get you,” Julian barked, all notion of patience and understanding gone. “You’re already closed off and miserable all the time. What are you so damn afraid of, Dante? That you might live happily ever after and have nothing to brood about?” 

Legend slowly drew his leg over the armrest so that he was sitting squarely with both feet on the floor. His brought his fingertips together and spoke calmly, but his eyes were anything but serene. “Do not call me that. You know that name is for performances only.”

“ _That name_ was given to you at birth by our father-”

“Our father was a drunken swine who _sold me_ like livestock.” Legend’s tone was sharper than daggers. “He never gave a damn about me.”

“But I did!” Julian cried. “Or don’t you remember that I abandoned him to look for you? I know it’s been an _awfully_ long time but surely you remember that I refused to go home unless you came with me and _we’ve never been back_! I’ve been following you my entire life!”

“I never asked you to!” Legend roared. “Why would I have gone back to a father who cared more about a bottle than his own son? I preferred being on the run than under his fists.” 

“And you’ve been running ever since,” Julian spat. His eyes darted away from his brother’s face to his hands. 

Legend glanced down and realized his hands were balled into fists. He unclenched them hastily and ran one hand through his jet black hair. He may not have been able to love his brother, but he would never intentionally hurt him. And he wouldn’t dream of striking him out of anger the way their father used to. 

Legend never laid a hand on him but Julian felt like he’d struck him all the same. But instead of being hurt by his brother balling his fists at him, Julian felt strangely encouraged by it. Legend may still not be capable of love, but he _was_ feeling more passionately since the Dragna sisters had collided into their lives. 

Julian sighed and ran a hand through his own hair, taking notice that so many of his mannerisms had come from over a century of mimicking his older brother. 

“Brother,” he said tentatively. If he didn’t want to be called Dante, fine, but Julian knew he could reach him more personally this way than by calling him Legend. “You’ve taught me practically everything I know and for as long as we live, I’ll never stop learning from you. But for once, let _me_ give _you_ a piece of advice. You have your magic and your games, but do they make you truly happy? If your answer is anything other than ‘absolutely,’ you should strongly consider what they’re costing you. Because what _I’m_ afraid of is that by the time you’re ready to answer that question with ‘no,’ everyone you ever could have loved will be long dead and gone.”

To that, Legend truly had no reply. Julian cast his brother a long despairing glance before leaving the Meridian Empire’s faux heir alone in his lavish suite. 


End file.
